Himalayan Field School

Since 2003 the Himalayan Health Exchange, a U.S.-based humanitarian organization that works in the remote Western Himalayan regions of Northern India, has offered a three-week summer anthropological field school. “Our program is very comprehensive and provides an unforgettable and highly productive learning experience for students of anthropology as well as other disciplines. This summer, from June 24-July 15, 2012, we include one week participation in a medical mission travelling through the Spiti Valley of Himachal Pradesh. Participants will observe some of the challenges to health and health care delivery in the area. Students will have an intensive and immersive experience in a remarkable cultural region composed of multiple, distinct communities.

“The logistics and curriculum are carefully planned by H.H.E. Students practice yoga daily and receive substantive lectures (from three instructors and the organization’s founder) on several topics, e.g., cultural and environmental aspects of health and medicine, local religious beliefs and practices, and some context regarding the history and development of the region. Students learn some basics in visual anthropology and how to employ appropriate anthropological perspectives and techniques while in the field.”